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BY JAMM VV.UI,'L'C^a^/ib .Ri lu';,Y 



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Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive 
in 2010 with funding from 
Tli6 Library of Congress 



littp://www.arcliive.org/details/flyingislandsofnOOrile 



THE FLYING ISLANDS 




THE FLYIN 





A 



I 





BY 



JAMES WHITa)MB R.ILEY 




WITH ILLVSTItATIONS 
BY FRANKLIN BOOTH 




UNDIANAPOLIS : THE BOBBS 



PVBLI SHER.X 



-76 ^7^^ 




©CI.A357241 



'A thynge of wytchencreft — an idle dreme. 



^^''^^xs^jxsy^^^ 





FOR the Song's sake; even so: 
Humor it, and let it go 
All untamed and wild of wing — 
Leave it ever truanting. 



C^ 



Be its flight elusive! — Lo, 
For the Song's sake — even so- 
Yield it but an ear as kind 
As thou perkest to the wind. 

Who will name us what the seas 
Have sung on for centuries? 
For the Song's sake! Even so — 
Sing, Seas! and Breezes, blow! 



Sing! or Wave or Wind or Bird- 
Sing! nor ever afterward 
Clear thy meaning to us — No! — 
For the Song's sake. Even so. 



^-#/ 



xi 




'J9^ 



C^l 



DRAMATIS PERSONS 



'<! 



Krung King — of the Spirks. 

CRESTILLOMEEM The Queen — Second Consort to Krung. 

Spraivoll The Tune-Fool. 

AmphiNE Prince — Son of Krung. 

DWAINIE A Princess — of the Wunks. 

JUCKLET A Dwarf — of the Spirks. 

Creetch and 1 • - 
GRITCHFANG f 

Counsellors, Courtiers, Heralds, etc., etc., etc. 



Nightmares. 





THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 



ACT I. 



Scene— The Flying Islands. 



Scene I. Spirkland. Time,Moondawn. Interior Court 
of KrunG. a vast, pendent star burns dimly in 
dome above throne. CrestILLOMEEM discovered lan- 
guidly reclining at foot of empty throne, an over- 
turned goblet lying near, as though just drained. The 
Queen, in seeming dazed, ecstatic state, raptly gazing 
upward, listening. Swarming forms and features in 
air above, seen eeriely coming and going, blending 
and intermingling in domed ceiling-spaces of court. 
Weird music. Mystic, luminous, beautiful faces 

5 



<-*/ 








detached from swarm, float, singly, forward, — 
tremulously, and in succession, Poising in mid-air and 
chanting. 

First Face. 
And who hath known her — like as / 
flave known her? — since the envying sky- 
Filched from her cheeks its morning-hue, 
And from her eyes its glory, too. 
Of dazzling shine and diamond-dew. 

Second Face. 
I knew her — long and long before 
High Mo loosed her palm and thought: 
"What awful splendor have I wrought 
To dazzle earth and Heaven, too!" 



r*v 



i>. 



:*-? 



Third Face. 
I knew her — long ere Night was o'er — 
Ere Mo yet conjectured what 
To fashion Day of — ay, before 
He sprinkled stars across the floor 

6 



^-#y 




:*^ 



Of dark, and swept that form of mine, 
E'en as a fleck of blinded shine, 
Back to the black where light was not. 

Fourth Face. 

Ere day was dreamt, I saw her face 
Lift from some starry hiding-place 
Where our old moon was kneeling while 
She lit its features with her smile. 



^^-^ 



Fifth Face. 

I knew her while these islands yet 
Were nestlings — ere they feathered wing, 
Or e'en could gape with them or get 
Apoise the laziest-ambling breeze, 
Or cheep, chirp out, or anything! 
When Time crooned rhymes of nurseries 
Above them — nodded, dozed and slept, 
And knew it not, till, wakening. 
The morning-stars agreed to sing 
And Heaven's first tender dews were wept. 

7 



^-*> 



.9^ 



Sixth Face. 

I knew her when the jealous hands 
Of Angels set her sculptured form 
Upon a pedestal of storm 
And let her to this land with strands 
Of twisted lightnings.. 



v!^ 



Seventh Face. 

And I heard 
Her voice ere she could tone a word 
Of any but the Seraph-tongue. — ■ 
And O sad-sweeter than all sung- 
Or word-said things! — to hear her say, 
Between the tears she dashed away: — 
"Lo, launched from the offended sight 
Of Njo\ — anguish infinite 
Is ours, O Sisterhood of Sin! 
Yet is thy service mine by right, 
And, sweet as I may rule it, thus 
Shall Sin's myrrh-savor taste to us — 
Sin's Empress — let my reign begin!" 

8 



^. 



^-*/ 




^^^ 



.< 




We follow thee forever on! 

Thro' darkest night and dimmest dawn; 

Thro' storm and calm — thro' shower and shine, 

Hear thou our voices answering thine: 
We follow — craving but to be 
Thy followers. — We follow thee — 
We follow, follow, follow thee ! 

We follow ever on and on — 

O'er hill and hollow, brake and lawn ; 

Thro' grewsome vale and dread ravine 

Where light of day is never seen. — 
We waver not in loyalty, — 
Unfaltering we follow thee — 
We follow, follow, follow thee! 

We follow ever on and on! 
The shroud of night around us drawn. 
Though wet with mists, is wild-ashine 
With stars to light that path of thine ; — 

9 



l>> 



The glow-worms, too, befriend us — we 
Shall fail not as we follow thee. 
We follow, follow, follow thee! 

We follow ever on and on. — 
The notched reeds we pipe upon 
Are pithed with music, keener blown 
And blither where thou leadest lone — 
Glad pangs of its ecstatic glee 
Shall reach thee as we follow thee. 
We follow, follow, follow thee! 

We follow ever on and on: 

We know the ways thy feet have gone, — 

The grass is greener, and the bloom 

Of roses richer in perfume — 

And birds of every blooming tree 
Sing sweeter as we follow thee. 
We follow, follow, follow thee! 

We follow ever on and on; 
For wheresoever thou hast gone 

10 






.*^ 



We hasten joyous, knowing there 
Is sweeter sin than otherwhere — 

Leave still its latest cup, that we 
May drain it as we follow thee. 
We follow, follow, follow thee! 



[Throughout final stanzas, faces, in fore- and forms in 
background slowly vanish, and voices gradually fail 
^<|,,^ to sheer silence. — CrESTILLOMEEM, rising, and wist- 

fully gazing and listening; then, evidently regaining 
wonted self, looks to be assured of being wholly alone 
— then speaks.~\ 



t>. 



;;^J CRESTILLOMEEM. 

The Throne is throwing wide its gilded arms 
To welcome me. The Throne of Krung! Ha! ha! 
Leap up, ye lazy echoes, and laugh loud! 

.11 



^wft/ 




For I, Crestillomeem, the Queen — ha! ha! 

Do fling my richest mirth into your mouths 

That ye may fatten ripe with mockery! 

I marvel what the kingdom would become 

Were I not here to nurse it like a babe 

And dandle it above the reach and clutch 

Of intermeddlers in the royal line 

And their attendant serfs. Ho! Jucklet, ho! 

'Tis time my knarled warp of nice anatomy 

Were here, to weave us on upon our mesh 

Of silken villanies. Ho! Jucklet, ho! 



\P. 



:*^ 



\_Lifts secret door in pave and drops a star-bud through 
opening. Enter JUCKLET from below.'] 



Jucklet, 



^-*y 



Spang sprit! my gracious Queen! but thou hast scorched 
My left ear to a cinder! and my head 

12 




.9^ 



Rings like a ding-dong on the coast of death! 
For, patient hate! thy hasty signal burst 
Full in my face as hitherward I came! 
But though my lug be fried to crisp, and my 
Singed wig stinks like a little sun-stewed Wunk, 
I stretch my fragrant presence at thy feet 
And kiss thy sandal with a blistered lip. 



r*; 



.4 



Crestillomeem. 

Hold ! rare-done fool, lest I may bid the cook 

To bake thee brown! How fares the King by this? 



i>. 



JUCKLET. 



v*-^ 



Safe couched midmost his lordly hoard of books, 
I left him sleeping like a quinsied babe 
Next the guest-chamber of a poor man's house: 
But ere I came away, to rest mine ears, 
I salved his welded lids, uncorked his nose, 
And o'er the odorous blossom of his lips 

13 



^-*y 




.^^ 



Re-squeezed the tinctured sponge, and felt his pulse 
Come staggering back to regularity. 
And four hours hence his Highness will awake 
And Peace will take a nap ! 



Crestillomeem. 



Ha! What mean you? 



JUCKLET. [Ominously. '\ 

I mean that he suspects our knaveries. — 
Some covert spy is burrowed in the court- 
Nay, and I pray thee startle not aloud, 
But mute thy very heart in its out-throb, 
And let the blanching of thy cheeks but be 
A whispering sort of pallor! 



I>. 





Ay, here — and haply even now. And one 
Whose unseen eye seems ever focussed keen 
Upon our action, and whose hungering ear 
Eats every crumb of counsel that we drop 
In these our secret interviews ! — For he — 
The King — through all his talking-sleep to-day 
Hath jabbered of intrigue, conspiracy — 
Of treachery and hate in fellowship, 
With dire designs upon his royal bulk, 
To oust it from the Throne. 



r»; 



Crestillomeem. 

He spake my name? 



JUCKLET. 

O Queen, he speaks not ever but thy name 
Makes melody of every sentence.— Yea, 
He thinks thee even true to him as thou 
Art fickle, false and subtle! O how blind 

15 



And lame, and deaf and dumb, and worn and weak, 

And faint, and sick, and all-commodious 

His dear love is! In sooth, O wifely one, 

Thy malleable spouse doth mind me of 

That pliant hero of the bald old catch 

"The Lovely Husband." — Shall I wreak the thing? 

losings — with much affected gravity and grimace.^ 



l'^: 



:^-^ 



O a lovely husband he was known, 

He loved his wife and her a-lone ; 

She reaped the harvest he had sown; 

She eat the meat; he picked the bone. 
With mixed admirers every size, 
She smiled on each without disguise; 
This lovely husband closed his eyes 
Lest he might take her by surprise. 



[p. 



^-*/ 




\^Aside, exclamatory. '\ 

Chorious uprorious! 

[Then pantomime as though pulling at bell-rope — singing 
in pent, explosive utterance.^ 



Trot! 




Run! 




Wasn't he a 


handy hubby? 


What 




Fun 




She could plot 


and plan! 


Not 




One 





Other such a dandy hubby 
As this lovely man ! 

Crestillomeem. 

Or talk or tune, wilt thou wind up thy tongue 
Nor let it tangle in a knot of words! 
What said the King? 

17 




r^s 








JUCKLET. {IVith recovered reverence.l 

He said: "Crestlllomeem — 
O that she knew this thick distress of mine! — 
Her counsel would anoint me and her voice 
Would flow in limpid wisdom o'er my woes 
And, like a love-balm, lave my secret grief 
And lull my sleepless heart!" [Aside] And so went on, 
Struggling all maudlin in the wrangled web 
That well-nigh hath cocooned him! 

Crestillomeem. 



:*-? 



Did he yield 
No hint of this mysterious distress 
He needs must hold sequestered from his Queen? 
What said he in his talking-sleep by which 
Some clew were gained of how and when and whence 

His trouble came? 

18 



^-*/ 





In one strange phase he spake 
As though some sprited lady talked with him- 
FuU courteously he said: "In woman's guise 
Thou comest, yet I think thou art, in sooth, 
But woman in thy form. — Thy words are strange 
And leave me mystified. I feel the truth 
Of all thou hast declared, and yet so vague 
And shadow-like thy meaning is to me, 
I know not how to act to ward the blow 
Thou sayest is hanging o'er me even now." 
And then, with open hands held pleadingly. 
He asked, "Who is my foe?" — And o'er his face 
A sudden pallor flashed, like death itself, 
As though, if answer had been given, it 
Had fallen like a curse. 



r^v 



'©v,^ 





I'll stake my soul 
Thrice over in the grinning teeth of doom, 
'Tis Dwainie of the Wunks who peeks and peers 
With those fine eyes of hers in our affairs 
And carries Krung, in some disguise, these hints 
Of our intent! See thou that silence falls 
Forever on her lips, and that the sight 
She vi^astes upon our secret action blurs 
With gray and grisly scum that shall for aye 
Conceal us from her gaze while she writhes blind 
And fangless as the fat worms of the grave! 
Here! take this tuft of downy druze, and when 
Thou comest on her, fronting full and fair, 
Say "SherzhamI" thrice, and flufif it in her face. 



r*; 



\P. 



:^^ 



JUCKLET. 



^-i*/ 



Thou knowest scanty magic, O my Queen, 
But all thou dost is fairly exxellent — 

20 





An this charm work, thou shalt have fuller faith 
Than still I must withhold. 

[Takes charm, with extravagant salutation.^ 

Crestillomeem. 

Thou gibing knave! 
Thou thing! Dost dare to name my sorcery 
As any trifling gift? Behold what might 
Be thine an thy deserving wavered not 
In stable and abiding service to 
Thy Queen ! 



[She presses suddenly her palm upon his eyes, then lifts 
her softly opening hand upward, his gaze following, 
where, sfowly shading in the air above them, appears 
semblance — or counter-self — of CRESTILLOMEEM, 
clothed in most radiant youth, her maiden-face bent 
downward to a moon-lit sward, where kneels a lover- 
knight — flawless in manly symmetry and princely 
beauty, — yet none other than the counter-self of 



^-*/ 




.9^ 



JUCKLET, eeriely and ivith strange sweetness singing, 
to some curiously tinkling instrument, the praises of 
its queenly mistress: JUCKLET and CRESTILLOMEEM 
transfixed below — trancedly gazing on their mystic 
selves aboveJ] 



.< 



Semblance of Jucklet. [^/n^^.] 

CrestillomeenJ 

CrestillomeemI 
Soul of my slumber! — Dream of my dream! 
Moonlight may fall not as goldenly fair 
As falls the gold of thine opulent hair — - 
Nay, nor the starlight as dazzlingly gleam 
As gleam thine eyes, 'Meema — Crestillomeem! — 
Stars of the skies, 'Meema — 

Crestillomeem! 






THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 



Semblance of Crestillomeem. ISings.l 

O Prince divine/ 

O Prince divine/ 
Tempt thou me not with that sweet voice of thine/ 
Though my proud brow bear the blaze of a crown, 
Lo, at thy feet must its glory bow down, 
That from the dust thou mayest lift me to shine 
Heaven'd in thy heart's rapture, O Prince divine/— 
Queen of thy love ever, 

O Prince divine/ 

Semblance of Jucklet. [Sings.] 

Crestillomeem/ 

Crestillomeem/ 
Our life shall flow as a musical stream — 
Windingly — placidly on shall it wend, 
Marged with mazhoora-bloom banks without end- 
Word-birds shall call thee and dreamily scream, 
"Where dost thou cruise, 'Meema— Crestillomeem? 
Whither away, 'Meema?— 

Crestillomeem/" 

23 



^-^/ 




Duo. 

\_Vision and voices gradually failing away-l 
Crestillomeem! 

Crestillomeem! 
Soul of my slumber! — Dream of my dream! 
Star of Love's light, 'Meema — Crestillomeem! 
Crescent of Night, 'Meema! — 

Crestillomeem! 

\JVith song, vision likewise fails utterlyJ] 

Crestillomeem. 

[To JUCKLET^ still trancedly staring upward."] 

How now, thy clabber-brained spudge! — 
Thou squelk! — thou — 



^ 



l>. 



v^-? 



Wi 



JUCKLET. 

Nay, O Queen! contort me not 
l"o more condensed littleness than now 
My shamed frame incurreth on itself, 

24 



^-*/ 




Seeing what might fare with it, didst thou will 

Kindly to nip it with thy magic here 

And leave it living in that form i' the air, 

Forever pranking o'er the daisied sward 

In wake of sandal-prints that dint the dews 

As lightly as, in thy late maidenhood. 

Thine own must needs have done in flighting from 

The dread encroachments of the King. 



Crestillomeem. 



Nay — peace! 



JUCKLET. 

So be it, O sweet Mystic. — But I crave 
One service of thy magic yet. — Amphine! — 
Breed me some special, damned philter for 
Amphine — the fair Amphine! — to chuck it him, 
Some serenade-tide, in a sodden slug 
O' pastry, 'twixt the door-crack and a screech 
O' rusty hinges. — Hey! Amphine^ the fair! — 
And let me, too, elect his doom, O Queen! — 

25 



THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 

Listed against thee, he, too, doubtless hath 
Been favored with an outline of our scheme. — 
And I would kick my soul all over hell 
If I might juggle his fine figure up 
In such a shape as mine! 



.<! 



:*^ 



Crestillomeem. 

Then this: — When thou 
Canst come upon him bent above a flower, 
Or any blooming thing, and thou, arear, 
Shalt reach it first and, thwartwise, touch it fair. 
And with thy knuckle flick him on the knee, — 
Then — his fine form will shrink and shrivel up 
As warty as a toad's — so hideous. 
Thine own shall seem a marvel of rare grace! 
Though idly speak'st thou of my mystic skill, 
'Twas that which won the King for me ; — 'twas that 
Bereft him of his daughter ere we had 
Been wedded yet a haed: — She strangely went 

26 




Astray one moonset from the palace-steps — 

She went — nor yet returned. — Was it not strange ?- 

She would be wedded to an alien prince 

The morrow midnight — to a prince whose sire 

I once knew, in lost hours of lute and song, 

When he was but a prince — / but a mouth 

For him to lift up sippingly and drain 

To lees most ultimate of stammering sobs 

And maudlin wanderings of blinded breath. 



JUCKLET. [Aside.'] 

Twigg-brebblets! but her Majesty hath speech 
That doth bejuice all metaphor to drip 
And spray and mist of sweetness! 



CrESTILLOMEEM. [Confusedly.] 

Where was I? 
O, ay!— The princess went — she strangely went!- 



^-*/ 



THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 



'<i 



E'en as I dreamed her lover-princeling would 

As strangely go, were she not soon restored. — 

As so he did: — -That airy penalty 

The jocund Fates provide our love-lorn wights 

In this glad island: So for thrice three nights 

They spun the prince his line and marked him pay 

It out (despite all warnings of his doom) 

In fast and sleepless search for her — and then 

They tripped his fumbling feet and he fell — UP! — 

Up! — as 'tis writ — sheer past Heaven's flinching walls 

And topmost cornices. — Up — up and on ! — 

And, it is grimly guessed of those who thus 

For such a term bemoan an absent love. 

And so fall M/>wise, they must needs fall on — 

And on and on — and on — and on — and on! 

Ha! ha! 



i>. 




JUCKLET. 

Quahh! but the prince's holden breath 
Must ache his throat by this ! But, O my Queen, 

What of the princess? — and — 



Crestillomeem. 

The princess? — Ay — 
The princess! Ay, she went — she strangely went! 
And when the dainty vagrant came not back — 
Both sire and son in apprehensive throes 
Of royal grief — the very Throne befogged 
In sighs and tears! — when all hope waned at last, 
And all the spies of Spirkland, in her quest, 
Came straggling empty-handed home again, — 
Why, then the wise King sleeved his rainy eyes 
And sagely thought the pretty princess had 
Strayed to the island's edge and tumbled ofif. 
I could have edged his mind at ease on that — 

29 



\P. 



.<! 



I could have told him, — yea, she tumbled off — 

/ tumbled her! — and tumbled her so plump, 

She tumbled in an under-island, then 

Just slow-unmooring from our own and poised 

For unknown voyagings of flight afar 

And all remote of latitudes of ours. — 

Ay, into that land I tumbled her from which 

But one charm known to art can tumble her 

Back into this, — and that charm (guilt be praised!) 

Is lodged not in the wit nor the desire 

Of my rare lore. 



JUCKLET. 



Thereinasmuch find joy! 
v^^ But dost thou know that rumors flutter now 

Among thy subjects of thy sorceries? — • 
The art being banned, thou knowest; or, unhoused. 
Is unleashed pitilessly by the grim, 

30 




Facetious body of the dridular 
Upon the one who fain had loosed the curse 
On others. — An my counsel be worth aught, 
Then have a care thy spells do not revert 
Upon thyself, nor yet mine own poor hulk 
O' fearsomeness! 



Crestillomeem. 

Ha! ha! No vaguest need 
Of apprehension there! — While Krung remains — 

\_She abruptly pauses — startled first, then listening curi- 
ously and with awed interest. Voice of exquisite 
melodiousness and fervor heard singing.~\ 



i>- 



Voice. 

When kings are kings, and kings are men — 

And the lonesome rain is raining! — 
O who shall rule from the red throne then, 
And who shall covet the sceptre when — 
When the winds are all complaining? 

31 





.<i 



When men are men, and men are kings — 
And the lonesome rain is raining! — • 
O who shall list as the minstrel sings 
Of the crown's fiat, or the signet-ring's. 
When the winds are all complaining? 

Crestillomeem. 
Whence flows such sweetness, and what voice is that? 

JUCKLET. 

The voice of Spraivoll, an mine ears be whet 
And honed o' late honyed memories 
Behaunted the deserted purlieus of 
The court. 

Crestillomeem. 

And who is Spraivoll, and what song 
Is that besung so blinding exquisite 
O cadenced mystery? 




THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 



JUCKLET. 
Spraivoll — O Queen, — 
SpraivoU The Tune-Fool is she named 
By those who meet her ere the day long wanes 
And naught but janiteering sparsely frets 
The cushioned silences and stagnant dusts 
Indifferently resuscitated by 
The drowsy varlets in mock servitude 
Of so refurbishing the royal halls: 
She cometh, alien, from Wunkland — so 
Hath she deposed to divers questioners 
Who have been smitten of her voice — as rich 
In melody as she is poor in caste and intellect. 
She hath been roosting, pitied of the hinds 
And scullions, round about the palace here 
For half a node. 

Crestillomeem. 
And pray, where is she perched — 
This wild-bird woman with her wondrous throat? 

33 



^-dy 




THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 



:^^ 



.<! 



JUCKLET. 

Under some dingy cornice, like enough — 
Though wild-bird she is not, being plumed in, 
Not feathers, but one fustioned stole — the like 
Of which so shameth her fair face one needs 
Must swear some lusty oaths, but that they shape 
Themselves full gentlewise in mildest prayer: — 
Not wild-bird; — nay, nor woman — though, in truth, 
She ith a licensed idiot, and drifts 
About, as restless and as useless, too. 
As any lazy breeze in summer-time. 
I'll call her forth to greet your Majesty. 
Ho! Spraivoll! Ho! my twittering birdster, flit 
Thou hither. 



[Enter SPRAIVOLL — from behind group of statuary- 
singing.^ 





■nyrm-anrayrxt^, 




Ting-aling! Ling-ting! Tingle-tee! 
The moon spins round and round for me! 
Wind it up with a golden key. 
Ting-aling! Ling-ting! Tingle-tee! 



r^v 



Crestillomeem. 



Who art thou, and what the strange 
Elusive beauty and intent of thy 
Sweet song? What singest thou, vague, mystic-bird- 
What doth the Tune- Fool sing? Ay, sing me what. 



'Sv.^ 



SprAIVOLL. [Singing.] 

What sings the breene on the wertling-vine, 

And the tweck on the bamner-stem? 
Their song, to me, is the same as mine, 

As mine is the same to them — to them — 
As mine is the same to them. 
35 



In star-starved glooms where the plustre looms 

With its slender boughs above, 
Their song sprays dov^^n with the fragrant blooms,- 

And the song they sing is love — is love — 
And the song they sing is love. 

JUCKLET. 

Your Majesty may be surprised somewhat, 
But SpraivoU cannot talk, — her only mode 
''<|*^ Of speech is melody; and thou might'st put 
The dowered fool a thousand queries, and, 
In like return, receive a thousand songs. 
All set to different tunes— as full of naught 
As space is full of emptiness. 



:a^ 



Crestillomeem, 

A fool?— 
And with a gift so all-divine! — A fool? 



^-*/ 




JUCKLET. 

Ay, warranted! — The Flying Islands all 

Might flock in mighty counsel — moult, and shake 

Their loosened feathers, and sort every tuft, 

Nor ever most minutely quarry there 

One other Spraivoll, itching with her voice 

Such favored spot of cuticle as she 

Alone selects here in our blissful realm. 



r^v 



Crestillomeem. 

Out, jester, on thy cumbrous wordiness! 
Come hither, Tune-Fool, and be not afraid. 
For I like fools so well I married one: 
And since thou art a Queen of fools, and he 
A King, why, I've a mind to bring ye two 
Together in some wise. Canst use thy song 
All times in such entrancing spirit one 
Who lists must so needs list, e'en though the song 
Go on unceasingly indefinite? 

37 



[p: 



'c^ 



SprAIVOLL. [Singing.l 

If one should ask me for a song, 
Then I should answer, and my tongue 

Would twitter, trill and troll along 
Until the song were done. 

Or should one ask me for my tongue, 
And I should answer with a song, 

I'd trill it till the song were sung, 
And troll it all along. 



^^^ 



Crestillomeem. 

Thou art indeed a fool, and one, I think. 
To serve my present purposes. Give ear. — 
And Jucklet, thou, go to the King and bide 
His waking: then repeat these words: — "The Queen 
Impatiently awaits his Majesty, 
And craves his presence in the Toiler of Stars, 
That she may there express full tenderly 

38 





THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 

Her great solicitude." And then, end thus, — 

"So much she bade, and drooped her glowing face 

Deep in the showerings of her golden hair. 

And with a flashing gesture of her arm 

Turned all the moonlight pallid, saying, 'Haste!' " 



C^^ 



JUCKLET. 

And would it not be well to hang a pearl 
Or twain upon thy silken lashes? 

Crestillomeem. 
^ Go! 



'ev.^ 



JucKLET. [Exit, singing.'] 

This lovely husband's loyal breast 
Heaved only as she might suggest- 
To every whimsy she expressed 
He proudly bowed and acquiesced. 
39 



He plotted with her, blithe and gay — 
In no flirtation said her nay, — 
He even took her to the play. 
Excused himself and came away. 



:^^ 



CrESTILLOMEEM. [To Spraivoll.'] 

Now, Tune-Fool, junior, let me theme thee for 
A song: — An Empress once, with angel in 
Her face and devil in her heart, had wish 
To breed confusion to her sovereign lord, 
And work the downfall of his haughty son — 
The issue of a former marriage— who 
Bellowsed her hatred to the whitest heat. 
For that her own son, by a former lord. 
Was born a hideous dwarf, and reared aside 
From the sire's knowing or his princely own — 
That none, in sooth, might ever chance to guess . 
The hapless mother of the hapless child. 
The Fiends that scar her thus, protect her still 
With outward beauty of both face and form. — 

40 



.^ 



It so is written, and so must remain 
Till magic greater than their own is found 
To hurl against her. So is she secure 
And proof above all fear. Now, listen well! — 
Her present lord is haunted with a dream. 
That he is soon to pass, and so prepares 
{All havoc hath been wrangled with the drugs!) 
The Throne for the ascension of the son. 
His cursed heir, who still doth baffle all 
Her arts against him, e'en as though he were 
Protected by a skill beyond her own. 
Soh! she, the Queen, doth rule the King in all 
Save this affectionate perversity 
Of favor for the son whom he would raise 
To his own place. — And but for this the King 
Long since had tasted death and kissed his fate 
As one might kiss a bride! But so his Queen 
Must needs withhold, not deal, the final blow, 
She yet doth bind him, spelled, still trusting her; 
And, by her craft and wanton flatteries, 
Doth sway his love to every purpose but 

41 



.<! 



r*-' 



m 



The one most coveted. — And for this end 
She would make use of thee ; — and if thou dost 
Her will, as her good pleasure shall direct, 
Why, thou shalt sing at court, in silken tire. 
Thy brow bound with wild diamonds, and thy hair 
Sown with such gems as laugh hysteric lights 
From glittering quespar, guenk and plennocynth, — 
Ay, even panoplied as might the fair 
Form of a very princess be, thy voice 
Shall woo the echoes of the listening Throne. 

SpRAIVOLL. [Crooning abstractedly.'] 

And O ! shall one— high brother of the air, 
In deeps of space — shall he have dream as fair? — 
And shall that dream be this?— In some strange place 
Of long-lost lands he finds her waiting face — 
Comes marvelling upon it, unaware. 
Set moonwise in the midnight of her hair, 
And is behaunted with old nights of May, 
So his glad lips do purl a roundelay 
Purloined from the echo-triller's beak, 

42 



r^; 



^^"j 



Seen keenly notching at some star's blanch cheek 
With its ecstatic twitterings, through dusk 
And sheen of dewy boughs of bloom and musk. 
For him, Love, light again the eyes of her 
That show nor tears nor laughter nor surprise — 
For him undim their glamour and the blur 
Of dreams drawn from the depths of deepest skies. 
He doth not know if any lily blows 
As fair of feature, nor of any rose. 



r^s 



CrESTILLOMEEM, [Aside.] 

O this weird woman! she doth drug mine ears 

With her uncanny sumptuousness of song! 

[To Spraivoll.] Nay, nay! Give o'er thy tuneful 

maunderings 
And mark me further, Tune-Fool — ay, and well: — 
At present doth the King lie in a sleep 
Drug-wrought and deep as death — the after-phase 
Of an unconscious state, in which each act 
Of his throughout his waking hours is so 
Rehearsed, in manner, motion, deed and word, 

43 






c*^ 



.<! 



:*-? 



Her spies (the Queen's) that watch him, serving there 
As guardians o'er his royal slumbers, may 
Inform her of her lord's most secret thought. 
And lo, her plans have ripened even now 
Till, sliould he come upon his Throne to-night, 
Where eagerly his counsellors will bide 
His coming, — she, the Queen, hath reason to 
Suspect her long-designed purposes 
May fall in jeopardy; — but if he fail, 
Through any means, to lend his presence there, — 
Then, by a wheedled mandate, is his Queen 
Empowered with all Sovereignty to reign 
And work the royal purposes instead. 
Therefore, the Queen hath set an interview — 
A conference to be holden with the King, 
Which is ordained to fall on noon to-night. 
Twelve star-twirls ere the nick the Throne convenes. — 
And with her thou shalt go, and bide in wait 
Until she signal thee to sing; and then 

44 



r^v 



^-d/ 




Shalt thou so work upon his mellow mood 
With that un-Spirkly magic of thy voice — 
C^^ So all bedaze his waking thought with dreams,- 

The Queen may, all unnoticed, slip away, 
And leave thee singing to a throneless King. 



r^c 



v"^/ 



SprAIVOLL. [Singing.] 

And who shall sing for the haughty son 
While the good King droops his head? — 

And will he dream, when the song is done. 
That a princess fair lies dead? 



:^-^ 



Crestillomeem. 

The haughty son hath found his "Song''—sweet curse/ 
And may she sing his everlasting dirge ! 
She comes from that near-floating land of thine, 
Naming herself a princess of that realm 
So strangely peopled we would fain evade 

45 




THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 



All mergence, and remain as strange to them 

As they to us. No less this Dwainie hath 

Most sinuously writhed and lithed her way 

Into court-favor here — hath glidden past 

The King's encharmed sight and sleeked herself 

Within the very altars of his house — 

His line— his blood— his very \iie:—AMPHINE/ 

Not any Spirkland gentlemaiden might 

Aspire so high as she hath dared to dare! — 

For she, with her fair skin and finer ways, 

And beauty second only to the Queen's, 

Hath caught the prince betwixt her mellow palms 

And stroked him flutterless. Didst ever thou 

In thy land hear of Dwainie of the Wiinks? 



\P. 



SpRAIVOLL. \_Singing.'] 

Ay, Dwainie! — My Dwainie! 

The lurloo ever sings, 
A tremor in his flossy crest 

And in his glossy wings. 
46 



^-*/ 




.v^ 



And Dwainie! — My Dwainiel 
The winno-welvers call ; — 

But Dwainie hides in Spirkland 
And answers not at all. 



:«^ 



The teeper twitters Dwainie! — 

The tcheucker on his spray 
Teeters up and down the wind 

And will not fly away : 
And Dwainie! — My Dwainie! 

The drowsy oovers drawl ; — 
But Dwainie hides in Spirkland 

And answers not at all. 

O Dwainie! — My Dwainie! 

The breezes hold their breath — 
The stars are pale as blossoms, 

And the night is still as death; 
And Dwainie! — My Dwainie! 

The fainting echoes fall ; — 
But Dwainie hides in Spirkland 

And answers not at all. 
47 



the flying islands of the night 

Crestillomeem. 

A melody ecstatic! and — thy words, 
Although so meaningless, seem something more— 
A vague and shadowy something, eerie-like, 
That maketh one to shiver over-chilled 
With curious, creeping sweetnesses of pain 
'And catching breaths that flutter tremulous 
With sighs that dry the throat out icily. — 
But save thy music! Come! that I may make 
Thee ready for thy royal auditor. [Exeunf.'\ 

End Act I. 





ACT 11. 

Scene I. A garden of KrunG'S Palace, screened from 
the moon with netted glenk-vines and blooming 
zhoomer-boughs, all glimmeringly lighted with 
star-flakes. An arbor, near which is a table spread 
with a repast — two seats, drawn either side. A play- 
ing fountain, at marge of which AMPHINE sits 
thrumming a trentoraine. 



i>. 



AmPHINE. [^Improvising.'] 

Ah, help me! but her face and brow 
Are lovelier than lilies are 
Beneath the light of moon and star 
That smile as they are smiling now — 
White lilies in a pallid swoon 
Of sweetest white beneath the moon — 
49 



THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 

White lilies in a flood of bright 
Pure lucidness of liquid-light 
Cascading down some plenilune 
When all the azure overhead 
Blooms like a dazzling daisy-bed. — 
So luminous her face and brow 
The lustre of their glory, shed 
In memory, even, blinds me now. 



:*^ 



[Plaintively addressing instrument.^ 
O warbling strand of silver, where, O where 
Hast thou unravelled that sweet voice of thine 
And left its silken murmurs quavering 
In limp thrills of delight? O golden wire. 
Where hast thou spilled thy precious twinkerings?- 
What thirsty ear hath drained thy melody, 
And left me but a wild, delirious drop 
To tincture all my soul with vain desire? 



:^-^ 



l^Improvising-l 

Her face — her brow — her hair unfurled! — 

And O the oval chin below, 

Carved, like a cunning cameo. 

With one exquisite dimple, swirled 

With swimming shine and shade, and whirled 

The daintiest vortex poets know — 

The sweetest whirlpool ever twirled 

By Cupid's finger-tip, — and so. 

The deadliest maelstrom in the world. 



r^v 



[p: 



l_Pauses. — Enter DwAINIE^ behind, in upper bower, un~ 
perceived.^ 



m 



AmpHINE. \^Again addressing instrument.'] 

O Trentoraine! how like an emptied vase 
Thou art — whose clustering blooms of song have drooped 
And faded, one by one, and fallen away 
And left to me but dry and tuneless stems 

51 



^-^y 




And crisp and withered tendrils of a voice 
Whose thrilling tone, now like a throttled sound, 
Lies stifled, faint, and gasping all in vain 
For utterance. 

[Again improvtsing.l 

And O mad wars of blinding blurs 
And flashings of lance-blades of light, 
Whet glitteringly athwart the sight 
That dares confront those eyes of hers! 
Let any dewdrop soak the hue 
Of any violet through and through, 
And then be colorless and dull. 
Compared with eyes so beautiful! 
I swear ye that her eyes be bright 
As noonday, yet as dark as night — 
As bright as be the burnished bars 
Of rainbows set in sunny skies. 
And yet as deep and dark, her eyes. 
And lustrous black as blown-out stars. 
52 



^-d/ 




.'9^ 



[Pauses — DWAINIE still unperceived, radiantly smiling 
and wafting kisses down from trellis-window above.'] 

Amphine. [Again to instrument.'] 

O empty husk of song! 
If deep within my heart the music thou 
Hast stored away might find an issuance, 
A fount of limpid laughter would leap up 
And gurgle from my lips, and all t"he winds 
Would revel with it, riotous with joy; 
And Dwainie, in her beauty, would lean o'er 
The battlements of night, and, like the moon. 
The glory of her face would light the world — 
For I would sing of love. 



r*s 



Dwainie. 

And she would hear, — 
And, reaching overhead among the stars, 
Would scatter them like daisies at thy feet. 



.<i 



:*-^ 



Amphine. 

voice, where art thou floating on the air? — 
Q Seraph-soul, where art thou hovering? 

DWAINIE. 

1 hover in the zephyr of thy sighs, 

And tremble lest thy love for me shall fail 
To buoy me thus forever on the breath 
Of such a dream as Heaven envies. 

Amphine. 

Ah! 

[Turning, discovers DWAINIE — she feigning, still, invisi- 
bility, while he, with lifted eyes and wistful gaze, 
preludes with instrument — then sings.l 

Linger, My Dwainie! Dwainie, lily-fair. 
Stay yet thy step upon the casement-stair — 
Poised be thy slipper-tip as is the tine 
Of some still star. — Ah, Dwainie — Dwainie mine, 
Yet linger — linger there! 



^-*/ 




Thy face, O Dwainie, lily-pure and fair, 
Gleams i' the dusk, as in thy dusky hair 
The moony zhoomer glimmers, or the shine 
'^^ Of thy swift smile. — Ah, Dwainie — Dwainie mine, 

Yet linger — linger there ! 

With lifted wrist, whereround the laughing air 
Hath blown a mist of lawn and clasped it there, 
Waft finger-thipt adieus that spray the wine 
Of thy waste kisses to'rd me, Dwainie mine — 
Yet linger — linger there! 



What unloosed splendor is there may compare 
With thy hand's unfurled glory, anywhere? 
What glint of dazzling dew or jewel fine 
May mate thine eyes? — Ah, Dwainie— Dwainie mine! 
Yet linger — linger there! 




j^: 



My soul comforts thee: On thy brow and hair 
It lays its tenderness like palms of prayer — 
It touches sacredly those lips of thine 
And swoons across thy spirit, Dwainie mine, 
The while thou lingerest there. 

\^Drops trentoraine, and, with open arms, gazes yearn- 
ingly on Dwainie.] 

Dwainie. [Raptly.l 
Thy words do wing my being dovewise ! 

Amphine. 

Then, 

Thou lovest! — O my homing dove, veer down 

And nestle in the warm home of my breast! 

So empty are mine arms, so full my heart. 

The one must hold thee, or the other burst. 

Dwainie. {Throwing herself in his embrace.'] 

I^o's own hand methinks hath fiung me here : 
O hold me that He may not pluck me back! 

56 



K 



^-d; 




So closely will I hold thee that not e'en 
The hand of death shall separate us. 



DWAINIE. 



So 



May sweet death find us, then, that, woven thus 
In the corollo of a ripe caress. 
We may drop lightly, like twin plustre-buds, 
On Heaven's star-strewn lawn. 

Amphine. 

So do I pray. 
But tell me, tender heart, an thou dost love. 
Where hast thou loitered for so long? — for thou 
Didst promise tryst here with me earlier by 
Some several layodemes which I have told 
Full chafingly against my finger-tips 
Till the full complement, save three, are ranged 
Thy pitiless accusers, claiming, each, 

57 



'©v.^ 

K 



.<! 



So many as their joined number be 
Shalt thou so many times lift up thy lips 
For mine's most lingering forgiveness. 
So, save thee, O my Sweet! and rest thee, I 
Have ordered merl and viands to be broueht 
For our refreshment here, where, thus alone, 
I may sip words with thee as well as wine. 
Why hast thou kept me so athirst? — Why, I 
Am jealous of the flattered solitudes 
In which thou walkest. [They sit at table.'] 

DWAINIE. 
Nay, I will not tell, 
Since, an I yielded, countless questions, like 
In idlest worth, would waste our interview 
In speculations vain. — Let this suffice: — 
I stayed to talk with one whom, long ago, 
I met and knew, and grew to love, forsooth. 
In dreamy Wunkland. — Talked of mellow nights, 
And long, long hours of golden olden times 

58 



r^v 



^-*/ 




'^^ 



:ft-^ 



When girlish happiness locked hands with me 
And we went spinning round, with naked feet 
In swaths of bruised roses ankle-deep; 
When laughter rang unsilenced, unrebuked, 
And prayers went unremembered, oozing clean 
From the drowsed memory, as from the eyes 
The pure, sweet mother-face that bent above 
Glimmered and wavered, blurred, bent closer still 
A timeless instant, like a shadowy flame, 
Then flickered tremulously o'er the brow 
And went out in a kiss. 

AmphINE. [Kissing her.] 

Not like to this/ 
O blessed lips whose kiss alone may be 
Sweeter than their sweet speech! Speak on, and say 
Of what else talked thou and thy friend? 

DWAINIE. 

We talked 

Of all the past, ah me! and all the friends 

That now await my coming. And we talked 

59 



r^v 



i>' 



^<*/ 



THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 

Of O SO many things — so many things — 

That I but blend them all with dreams of when, 

With thy warm hand clasped close in this of mine, 

We cross the floating bridge that soon again 

Will span the all-unfathomable gulfs 

Of nether air betwixt this isle of strife 

And my most glorious realm of changeless peace. 

Where summer night reigns ever and the moon 

Hangs ever ripe and lush with radiance 

Above a land where roses float on wings 

And fan their fragrance out so lavishly 

That Heaven hath hint of it, and oft therefrom 

Sends down to us across the odorous seas 

Strange argosies of interchanging bud 

And blossom, spice and balm. — Sweet — sweet 

Beyond all art and wit of uttering. 



v*-' Amphine. 

O Empress of my listening Soul, speak on. 
And tell me all of that rare land of thine! — 
For even though I reigned a peerless king 

60 



'^^ 



^^-^ 



Within mine own, methinks I could fling down 
My sceptre, signet, crown and royal might. 
And so fare down the thorned path of life 
If at its dwindling end my feet might touch 
Upon the shores of such a land as thou 
Dost paint for me — thy realm! Tell on of it — 
And tell me if thy sister-woman there 
Is like to thee — Yet nay! for an thou didst. 
These eyes would lose all speech of sight 
And call not back to thine their utter love. 
But tell me of thy brothers. — Are they great. 
And can they grapple iEo's arguments 
Beyond our skill? or wrest a purpose from 
The pink side of the moon at Darsten-tide? 
Or cipher out the problem of blind stars. 
That ever still do safely grope their way 
Among the thronging constellations? 



DWAINIE. 



Ay! 



Ay, they have leaped all earthland barriers 
In mine own isle of wisdom-working Wunks; 

61 



r^^ 






V*-? 



'Twas Wunkland's son that voyaged round the moon 
And moored his bark within the molten bays 
Of bubbling silver: And 'twas Wunkland's son 
That talked with Mars — unbuckled Saturn's belt 
And tightened it in squeezure of such facts 
Therefrom as even he dare not disclose 
In full till all his followers, as himself, 
Have grown them wings, and gat them beaks and claws, 
With plumage all bescienced to withstand 
All tensest flames — glaze-throated, too, and lung'd 
To swallow fiercest-spirited jets and cores 
Of embered and unquenchable white heat: 
'Twas Wunkland's son that alchemized the dews 
And bred all colored grasses that he wist — 
Divorced the airs and mists and caught the trick 
Of azure-tinting earth as well as sky: 
'Twas Wunkland's son that bent the rainbow straight 
And walked it like a street, and so returned 
To tell us it was made of hammered shine, 

62 




Inlaid with strips of selvage from the sun 
And burnished with the rust of rotten stars : 
'Twas Wunkland's son that comprehended first 
All grosser things, and took our worlds apart 
And oiled their works with theories that clicked 
In glib articulation with the pulse 
And palpitation of the systemed facts. — 
And, circling ever round the farthest reach 
Of the remotest welkin of all truths. 
We stint not our investigations to 
Our worlds only, but query still beyond. — 
For now our goolores say, below these isles 
A million million miles, are other worlds — 
Not like to ours, but round, as bubbles are. 
And, like them, ever reeling on through space, 
And anchorless through all eternity; — 
Not like to ours, for our isles, as they note. 
Are living things that fly about at night. 
And soar above and cling, throughout the day, 
Like bats, beneath the bent sills of the skies; 
And I myself have heard, at dawn of moon, 

63 



'6v.^ 



^-d/ 



.<! 



^ftv? 



A liquid music filtered through my dreams, 
As though 'twere myriads of sweet voices, pent 
In some o'erhanging realm, had spilled themselves 
In streams of melody that trickled through 
The chinks and crannies of a crystal pave, 
Until the wasted juice of harmony, 
Slow-leaking o'er my senses, laved my soul 
In ecstasy divine : And afferhaiks. 
Who scour our coasts on missions for the King, 
Declare our island's shape is like the zhibb's 
When lolling in a trance upon the air 
With open wings upslant and motionless. 
O such a land it is — so all complete 
In all wise habitants, and knowledge, lore, 
Arts, sciences, perfected government 
And kingly wisdom, worth and majesty — 
And Art — ineffably above all else: — 
The art of the Romancer, — fabulous 
Beyond the miracles of strangest fact; 
The art of Poesy, — the sanest soul 
Is made mad with its uttering; the art 

64 




Of Music, — words may not e'en whimper what 
The jewel-sounds of song yield to the sense ; 
And, last, — the art of Knowing what to Know, 
And how to zoon straight to'rd like a bee. 
Draining or song or poem as it brims 
And over-runs with raciest spirit-dew. — 
And, after, — chaos all to sense like thine, 
Till there, translated, thou shalt know as I. . . 
So furnished forth in all things lovable 
Is my Land-Wondrous — ay, and thine to be, — 
O Amphine, love of mine, it lacks but thy 
Sweet presence to make it a paradise! 

\_Takes up trentoraine.1 

And shall I tell thee of the home that waits 
For thy glad coming, Amphine? — Listen, then! 



r*> 



^^^ 



Chant-Recitative, 

A palace veiled in a glimmering dusk; 

Warm breaths of a tropic air, 
Drugged with the odorous marzhoo's musk 

And the sumptuous cyncotwaire — 
Where the trembling hands of the lilwing's leaves 

The winds caress and fawn, 
While the dreamy starlight idly weaves 

Designs for the damask lawn. 



v^-? 



Densed in the depths of a dim eclipse 

Of palms, in a flowery space, 
A fountain leaps from the marble lips 

Of a girl, with a golden vase 
Held atip on a curving wrist, 

Drinking the drops that glance 
Laughingly in the glittering mist 

Of her crystal utterance. 





Archways looped o'er blooming walks 

That lead through gleaming halls ; 
And balconies where the word-bird talks 

To the tittering waterfalls: 
And casements, gauzed with the filmy sheen 

Of a lace that sifts the sight 
Through a ghost of bloom on the haunted screen 

That drips with the dews of light. 

Weird, pale shapes of sculptured stone,— 

With marble nymphs agaze 
Ever in fonts of amber, sown 

With seeds of gold and sprays 
Of emerald mosses, ever drowned, 

Where glimpses of shell and gem 
Peer from the depths, as round and round 

The nautilus nods at them. 



r^; 



Faces blurred in a mazy dance, 
With a music, wild and sweet. 

Spinning the threads of the mad romance 
That tangles the waltzers' feet: 

67 




THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 

Twining arms, and warm, swift thrills 

That pulse to the melody. 
Till the soul of the dancer dips and fills 

In the wells of ecstasy. 

Eyes that melt in a quivering ore 

Of love, and the molten kiss 
Jetted forth of the hearts that pour 

Their blood in the moulds of bliss. — 
Till, worn to a languor slumber-deep, 

The soul of the dreamer lifts 
A silken sail on the gulfs of sleep, 

And into the darkness drifts. 

[The instrument falls from her hands — AmPHINE, in 
stress of passionate delight, embraces her.1 




Amphine. 

Thou art not all of earth, O angel one! 
Nor do I far miswonder me an thou 
Hast peered above the very walls of Heaven! 
What hast thou seen there? — Didst on ^o bask 
Thine eyes and clothe Him with new splendorings? 
And strove He to fling back as bright a smile 
As thine, the while He beckoned thee within? 
And, tell me, didst thou meet an angel there 
A-linger at the gates, nor entering 
Till I, her brother, joined her? 



t>. 



DWAINIE. 

Why, hast thou 
A sister dead? — Truth, I have heard of one 
Long lost to thee — not dead? 



Amphine. 

Of her I speak,- 
And dead, although we know not certainly, 
We moan us ever it must needs be death 

69 



:r^ 



Only could hold her from us such long term 
Of changeless yearning for her glad return. 
She strayed away from us long, long ago. — 
O and our memories! — Her wandering eyes 
That seemed as though they ever looked on things 
We might not see — as haply so they did, — 
For she went from us, all so suddenly — 
So strangely vanished, leaving never trace 
Of her outgoing, that I ofttimes think 
Her rapt ej^es fell along some certain path 
Of special glory paven for her feet. 
And fashioned of JEo's supreme desire 
That she might bend her steps therein and so 
Reach Him again, unseen of our mere eyes. 
My sweet, sweet sister! — lost to brother — sire — 
And, to her heart, one dearer than all else, — - 
Her lover — lost indeed! 



r>: 



l>. 



DWAINIE. 

Nay, do not grieve 
Thee thus, O loving heart! Thy sister yet 

70 





May come to thee in some glad way the Fates 
Are fashioning the while thy tear-drops fall! 
So calm thee, while I speak of thine own self. — 
For I have listened to a whistling bird 
That pipes of waiting danger. Didst thou note 
No strange behavior of thy sire of late? 

Amphine. 

Ay, he is silent, and he walks as one 

In some fixed melancholy, or as one 

Half waking. — Even his worshipped books seem now 

But things on shelves. 



:*-^ 



DWAINIE. 

And doth he counsel not 
With thee in any wise pertaining to 
His ailings, or of matters looking toward 
His future purposes or his intents 
Regarding thine own future fortunings 



^-*; 





THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 

And his desires and interests therein? 

What bearing hath he shown of late toward thee 

By which thou might'st beframe some estimate 

Of his mind's placid flow or turbulent? 

And hath he not so spoken thee at times 

Thou hast been 'wildered of his words, or grieved 

Of his strange manner? 



w 



.<i 



Amphine. 
Once he stayed me on 
The palace-stair and whispered, "Lo, my son, 
Thy young reign draweth nigh — prepare!" — So passed 
And vanished as a wraith, so wan he was! 



I>. 



DWAINIE. 

And didst thou never reason on this thing, 
Nor ask thyself what dims thy father's eye 
And makes a brooding shadow of his form? 




v<V^ 




THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 



Amphine. 

Why, there's a household rumor that he dreams 
Death fareth ever at his side, and soon 
Shall signal him away. — But Jucklet saith 
Crestillomeem hath said the leeches say 
There is no cause for serious concern; 
And thus am I assured 'tis nothing more 
Than childish fancy of mine aging sire, — 
And so, as now, I laugh, full reverently. 
And marvel, as I mark his shuffling gait. 
And his bestrangered air and murmurous lips, 
As by he glideth to and fro, ha! ha! 
Ho! ho! — I laugh me many, many times — 
Mind, thou, 'tis reverently I laugh — ha! ha! — 
And wonder, as he glideth ghostly-wise, 
If ever I shall waver as I walk. 
And stumble o'er my beard, and knit my brows, 
And o'er the dull mosaics of the pave 
Play chequers with mine eyes ! Ha ! ha ! 

73 



m 



'^^ 



.<! 



DWAINIE. [Aside.] 

How dare — 
How dare I tell him? Yet I must — I must! 

Amphine. 

Why, art thouj too, grown childish, that thou canst 
Find thee waste pleasure talking to thyself 
And staring f rowningly with eyes whose smiles 
I'need so much? 

DWAINIE, 

Nay, rather say, their tears. 
Poor thoughtless Prince! [Aside.] (My magic even 

now 
Forecasts his kingly sire's near happening 
Of nameless hurt and ache and awful stress 
Of agony supreme, when he shall stare 
The stark truth in the face!) 

Amphine. 



r^v 




DWAINIE. 

What mean I but thy welfare? Why, I mean, 
One hour agone, the Queen, thy mother — 



Amphine. 



:^j 



Say only "Queen"! 



Nay, 



DWAINIE. 



— ^The Queen, one hour agone— 
As so I learned from source I need not say — 
Sent message craving audience with the King 
At noon to-night, within the Tower of Stars. — 
Thou knowest, only brief space following 
The time of her pent session thereso set 
In secret with the King alone, the Throne, 
Is set, too, to convene ; and that the King 
Hath lent his seal unto a mandate that, 
Should he withhold his presence there, the Queen 
Shall be empowered to preside — to reign — 
Solely endowed to work the royal will 

75 



l>" 



^-*y 



^^^ 



In lieu of the good King. Now, therefore, I 

Have been advised that she, the Queen, by craft 

Connives to hold him absent purposely, 

That she may claim the vacancy — for what 

Covert design I know not, but I know 

It augurs peril to ye both, as to 

The Throne's own perpetuity. [Aside.] (Again 

My magic gives me vision terrible : — 

The Sorceress' legions balk mine own. — The King 

Still hers, yet wavering. O save the King, 

Thou Mol — Render him to us!) 



r*; 



[p: 



Amphine. 



I feel 
Thou speakest truth: and yet how know'st thou this? 



DWAINIE, 

Ask me not that; my lips are welded close. — 
And, more, — since I have dared to speak, and thou 
To listen, — Jucklet is accessory, 
And even now is plotting for thy fall, 

76 



^-^/ 




But, Passion of my Soul! think not of me, — 
For nothing but sheer magic may avail 
To work "me harm; — but look thou to thyself! 
For thou art blameless cause of all the hate 
That rankleth in the bosom of the Queen. 
So have thine eyes unslumbered ever, that 
No step may steal behind thee — for in this 
Unlooked-of way thine enemy will come: 
This much I know, but for what fell intent 
Dare not surmise. — So look thou, night and day. 
That none may skulk upon thee in this wise 
Of dastardly attack. \_Aside.'\ (Ha! Sorceress! 
Thou palest, tossing wild and wantonly 
The smothering golden tempest of thy hair. — 
What! lying eyes! ye dare to utter tears? 
Help! help! Yield us the King!) 



[p: 



Amphine. 

And thou, O sweet! 
How art thou guarded and what shield is thine 
Of safety? 



THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 



'^Ti 



DWAINIE. 

Fear not thou for me at all. — 
Possessed am I of wondrous sorcery — 
The gift of Holy Magi at my birth: 
Mine enemy must front me in assault 
And must with mummery of speech assail, 
And I will know him in first utterance — • 
And so may thus disarm him, though he be 
A giant thrice in vasty form and force. 

\_Singing heard.'\ 

But, list! what wandering minstrel cometh here 
In the young night? 



!>' 



Voice. [7« distance — singing.'\ 

The drowsy eyes of the stars grow dim; 
The wamboo roosts on the rainbow's rim, 

And the moon is a ghost of shine: 
The soothing song of the crule is done, 
But the song of love is a soother one, 

And the song of love is mine. 
78 




Then, ivakel O wake! 
For the sweet song's sake. 

Nor let my heart 
With the morning break! 



C^l 



Amphine. 

Some serenader. Hist! 
What meaneth he so early, and what thus 
Within the palace garden-close? Quick; here! 
Heneareth! Soh! Let us conceal ourselves 
And mark his action, wholly unobserved. 



r>. 



[Amphine and DwAINIE enter bower.'] 

Voice. [^Drawing nearer.] 

The mist of the morning, chill and gray. 
Wraps the night in a shroud of spray; 

The sun is a crimson blot: 
The moon fades fast, and the stars take wing; 
The comet's tail is a fleeting thing — 

But the tale of love is not. 

79 




Then, wake! O wake.' 
For the sweet song's sake. 

Nor let my heart 
With the morning break! 

[Enter JUCKLET.] 



< 



X/^ 



JUCKLET. 

Eex! what a sumptuous darkness is the Night — 
How rich and deep and suave and velvety- 
Its lovely blackness to a soul like mine! 
Ah, Night! thou densest of all mysteries — 
Thou eeriest of unfathomable delights, 
Whose soundless sheer inscrutability 
Is fascination's own ethereal self. 
Unseen, and yet embodied — palpable, — 
An essence, yet a form of stableness 
That stays me — weighs me, as a giant palm 
Were laid on either shoulder. — Peace! I cease 
Even to strive to grope one further pace, 
But stand uncovered and with lifted face. 

80 





THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 

but a glamour of inward light 
Hath smitten the ej^es of my soul to-night! 
Groping here in the garden-land, 

1 feel my fancy's outheld hand 
Touch the rim of a realm that seems 
Like an isle of bloom in a sea of dreams: 

I stand mazed, dazed and alone — alone! — 
My heart beats on in an undertone, 
And I lean and listen long, and long, 
And I hold my breath as I hear again 
The chords of a long-dead trentoraine 
And the wraith of an old love-song. 
Low to myself am I whispering: — 

Glad am I. and the Night knoivs why- 
Glad am I that the dream came by 
And found me here as of old when I 
Was a ruler and a king. 



DWAINIE. {To AmphineJ] 

What gentle little monster is this dwarf — 
Surely not Jucklet of the Court? 

81 




THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 

AmPHINE. [Ironically.] 

Ay, ay! 

But he'll ungentle an thy woman's-heart 
Yield him but space. Listen: he mouths again. 



:*^ 



JUCKLET, 

It was an age ago — an age 
Turned down in life like a folded page. — 
See where the volume falls apart, 
And the faded bookmark — 'tis my heart, — 
Nor mine alone, but another knit 
So cunningly in the love of it 
That you must look, with a shaking head, 
Nor know the quick one from the dead. 
Ah! what a broad and sea-like lawn 
Is the field of love they bloom upon! — 
Waves of its violet-velvet grass 
Billowing, with the winds that pass, 
And breaking in a snow-white foam 
Of lily-crests on the shores of home. 

82 





.v^ 



Low to myself am I whispering: — 

Glad am I, and the Night knows why — 
Glad am I that the dream came by 
And found me here as of old when I 
Was a ruler and a king. 

[Abruptly breaking into impassioned vocal burst.'] 



Song. 

Fold me away in your arms, O Night — 

Night, my Night, with your rich black hair!- 
Tumble it down till my yearning sight 
And my unkissed lips are hidden quite 
And my heart is havened there, — 
Under that mystical dark despair — 
Under your rich black hair. 

Oft have I looked in your eyes, O Night — 

Night, my Night, with your rich black hair!- 
Looked in your eyes till my face waned white 
And my heart laid hold of a mad delight 

83 



^-^y 




That moaned as I held it there 

Under the deeps of that dark despair — 
Under your rich black hair. 

Just for a kiss of your mouth, O Night — 

Night, my Night, with your rich black hair!- 
Lo! will I wait as a dead man might 
Wait for the Judgment's dawning light, 
With my lips in a frozen prayer — ■ 
Under this lovable dark despair — 
Under your rich black hair. 

[With sivift change to mood of utter gayety.l 



:*-> 



Ho! ho! what will my dainty mistress say 
When I shall stand knee-deep in the wet grass 
Beneath her lattice, and with upturned eyes 
And tongue out-lolling like the clapper of 
A bell, outpour her thatF I wonder now 
If she will not put up her finger thus. 
And say, "Hist! heart of mine! the angels call 

84 




To thee!" Ho! ho! Or will her blushing face 
Light up her dim boudoir and, from her glass, 
Flare back to her a flame upsprouting from 
The hot-cored socket of a soul whose light 
She thought long since had guttered out? — Ho! ho! 
Or, haply, will she chastely bend above — 
A Parian phantomette, with head atip 
And tw^inkling fingers dusting down the dews 
That glitter on the tarapyzma-vines 
That riot round her casement — gathering 
Lush blooms to pelt me with while I below 
All winkingly await the fragrant shower? 
Ho! ho! how jolly is this thing of love! 
But how much richer, rarer, jollier 
Than all the loves is this rare love of mine! 
Why, my sweet Princess doth not even dream 
I am her lover, — for, to here confess, 
I have a way of wooing all mine own. 
And waste scant speech in creamy compliment 
And courtesies all gaumed with winy words. — 
In sooth, I do not woo at all — I win! 

85 



i>. 




'/9^ 



How is it now the old duet doth glide 
Itself full ripplingly adown the grooves 
Of its quaint melody? — And whoso, by 
The hye, or by the way , or for the nonce, 
Or, eke ye, peradventure, ever durst 
Render a duet singly but myself? 



:*-? 



\_Singing — with grotesque mimicry of two voices.~\ 

Jucklet's Ostensible Duet. 

How is it you woo? — and now answer me true, — 

How is it you woo and you win? 
Why, to answer you true, — the first thing that you do 

Is to simply, my dearest — begin. 

But how can I begin to woo or to win 

When I don't know a Win from a Woo? 
Why, cover your chin with your fan or your fin. 

And I'll introduce them to you. 

86 



^-*/ 




But what if it drew from my parents a view 
With my own in no manner akin? 

No matter! — your view shall be first of the two,- 
So I hasten to usher thein in. 



Nay, stay! Shall I grin at the Woo or the Win? 

And what will he do if I do? 
Why, the Woo will begin with "How pleasant it's been!' 

And the Win with "Delighted with you!" 



Then supposing he grew very dear to my view — 
I'm speaking, you know, of the Win? 

Why, then, you should do what he wanted you to, — 
And now is the tiine to begin. 



\P. 



The time to begin? O then usher him in — 
Let him say what he wants me to do. 

He is here. — He's a twin of yourself, — I am "Win' 
And you are, my darling, my "Woo"! 

87 




[Capering and coiirtcsying to feigned audience.~\ 

That song I call most sensible nonsense; 
And if the fair and peerless Dwainie were 
But here, with that sweet voice of hers, to take 
The part of "Woo," I'd be the happiest "Win" 
On this side of futurity! Ho! ho! 



Dwainie. [Aside to Amphine.] 
What means he? 

Amphine. 

Why, he means that throatless head 
Of his needs further chucking down betwixt 
His cloven shoulders! 

[Starting forivard — Dicainie detaining him.~\ 




THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 



JUCKLET. [Archly eying viands.'] 

What! 
A roasted wheffle and a toc-spiced whum, 
Tricked with a larvey and a gherghgling's tail! — 
And, sprit me! wine enough to swim them in! 
Now I should like to put a question to 
The guests; but as there are none, I direct 
Mine interrogatory to the host. 

[Boijoing to vacancy.] 

Am I behind-time? — Then I can but trust 
My tardy coming may be overlooked 
In my most active effort to regain 
A gracious tolerance by service now: — 
Directing rapt attention to the fact 
That I have brought mine appetite along, 
I can but feel, ho! ho! that further words 
Would be a waste of speech. 

[Sits at table — pours out wine, drinks am 
voraciously.] 

89 



\P. 




THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 



— There was a time 
When I was rather backward in my ways 
In courtly company (as though, forsooth, 
I felt not, from my very birth, the swish 
Of royal blood along my veins, though bred 
Amongst the treacled scullions and the thralls 
I shot from, like a cork, in youthful years, 
Into court-favor by my wit's sheer stress 
Of fomentation. — Pah! the stench o' toil!) 
Ay, somehow, as I think, I've all outgrown 
That coarse, nice age, wherein one makes a meal 
Of two estardles and a fork of soup. 
Hey! sanaloo! Lest my starved stomach stand 
Awe-stricken and aghast, with mouth agape 
Before the rich profusion of this feast, 
I lubricate it with a glass of merl 
And coax it on to more familiar terms 
Of fellowship with those delectables. 

\_Poiirs wine and holds up goblet with mock courtltness.1 

90 




Mine host! — Thou of the viewless presence and 
Hush-haunted lip: — Thy most imperial, 
Ethereal, and immaterial health! 
Live till the sun dries up, and comb thy cares 
With star-prongs till the comets fizzle out 
And fade away and fail and are no more! 

[Drains and refills goblet.~\ 

And, if thou wilt permit me to observe, — ■ 
The gleaming shaft of spirit in this wine 
Goes whistling to its mark, and full and fair 
Zipps to the target-centre of my soul! 
Why, now am I the veriest gentleman. 
That ever buttered woman with a smile. 
And let her melt and run and drip and ooze 
All over and around a wanton heart! 
And if my mistress bent above me now, 
In all my hideous deformity, 
I think she would look over, a& it were. 
The hump upon my back, and so forget 
The kinks and knuckles of my crooked legs, 

91 



vft 



\P. 



^-*/ 



THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT' 

In this enchanting smile, she needs must leap, 
Love-dazzled, and fall faint and fluttering 
Within these yawning, all-devouring arms 
Of mine! Ho! ho! And yet Crestillomeem 
Would have me blight my dainty Dwainie with 
This feather from the Devil's wing! — But I 
Am far too full of craft to spoil the eyes 
That yet shall pour their love like nectar out 
Into mine own, — and I am far too deep 
For royal wit to wade my purposes. 

Dwainie. [To Amphine.] 
What can he mean? 

Amphine. {^Chafing in suppressed frenzy.'] 



■m 



i>. 



Ha! to rush forward and 
Tear out his tongue and slap it in his face! 

Dwainie. [To Amphine.] 





How big a fool — 
How all magnificent an idiot 
Would I be to blight her — (my peerless one! — 
My very soul's soul!) as Crestillomeem 
Doth instigate me to, for her hate's sake — 
And inward jealousy, as well, belike! — 
Wouldst have my Dwainie blinded to my charms- 
For charms, good sooth, were every several flaw 
Of my malformed outer-self, compared 
With that his Handsomeness the Prince Amphine 
Shalt change to at a breath of my puff'd cheek. 
E'en were it weedy-bearded at the time 
With such a stubble as a huntsman well 
Might lose his spaniel in! Ho! ho! Ho! ho! 
I fear me, O my coy Crestillomeem, 
Thine ancient coquetry doth challenge still 
Thine own vain admiration overmuch! 
/ to crush her? — ^when thou, as certainly, 
Hast armed me to smite down the only bar 

93 



^-*/ 




.<B 



:*-? 



That lies betwixt her love and mine? Ho! ho! 
Hey! but the revel I shall riot in 
Above the beauteous Prince, instantuously 
Made all abhorrent as a reptiled bulk! 
Ho! ho! my princely w^ooer of the fair 
Rare lady of mine own superior choice! 
Pah! but my very 'maginings of him 
Refined to that shamed, sickening shape, 
Do so beloathe me of him there be qualms 
Expostulating in my forum now! 
Ho! what unprincifying properties 
Of medication hath her Majesty 
Put in my tender charge! Ho! ho! Ho! ho! 
Ah, Dwainie! sweetest sweet! what shock to thee?- 
I wonder, when she sees the human toad 
Squat at her feet and cock his filmy eyes 
Upon her and croak love, if she will not 
Call me to tweezer him with two long sticks 
And toss him from her path. — O ho ! Ho ! ho ! 

94 



i>. 



^-*/ 





Hell bend him o'er some blossom quick, that I 
May have one brother in the flesh! 



[Nods drowsily.~\ 



C^l 



DWAINIE. [To Amphine.] 

Ha! See! 
He groweth drunken. — Soh! Bide yet a spell 
And I will vex him vs^ith my sorcery: 
Then shall we hence, — for lo, the node when all 
Our subtlest arts and strategies must needs 
Be quickened into acts and swift results. 
Now bide thou here, and in mute silence mark 
The righteous penalty that hath accrued 
Upon that dwarfed monster. 

[She stands, still in concealment from the dwarf, her tense 
gaze fixed upon him as though in mute and painful 
act of incantation. — JUCKLET affected drowsily — ■ 
yawns and mumbles incoherently — stretches, and 
gradually sinks at full length on the sward. — 

95 



.<! 



DWAINIE moves forward — AmPHINE^ following, is 
about to set foot contemptuously on sleeper's breast, 
but is caught and held away by DWAINIE, who im- 
periously waves him back, and still, in pantomime, 
commanding, bids him turn and hide his face — 
AmphiNE obeying as though unable to do otherwise. 
DWAINIE then unbinds her hair, and throwing it all 
forward covering her face and bending till it trails 
the ground, she lifts to the knee her dress, and so 
walks backward in a circle round the sleeping JUCK- 
LET^ crooning to herself an incoherent song. Then 
pausing, letting fall her gown, and rising to full 
stature, waves her hands above the sleeper's face, and 
runs to Amphine, who turns about and gazes on her 
with new wonderment.'\ 

DwAiNiE. \_To Amphine.] 

Now shalt thou 
Look on such scaith as thou hast never dreamed. 

96 





THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 



[As she speaks, half averting her face as with melancholy 
apprehension, chorus of lugubrious voices heard 
chanting discordantly.^ 



Voices. 

When the fat moon smiles, 
And the comets kiss, 

And the elves of Spirkland flit, 
The Whanghoo twunkers 
A tune like this. 

And the Nightmares champ the bit. 



(^ 



r^< 



[As chorus dies aivay, a comet, freighted with weird 
shapes, dips from the night and trails near JuCKLET'S 
sleeping figure, while, with attendant goblin-forms, 
two Nightmares, CREECH and GRITCHFANG, alight. 
— The comet hisses, switches its tail and disappears, 
while the two goblins hover buzzingly over ]VCKLET, 

97 



^-*/ 



THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 

who starts wide-eyed and stares fixedly at them, with 
horribly contorted features.^ 



w 



Creech. [To Gritchfang.] 
Buzz! 

Buzz! 

Buzz! 

Buzz! 
Flutter your wings like your grandmother does! 
Tuck in your chin and wheel over and whir-r-r 
Like a dickerbug fast in the web of the wuhrr! 
Reel out your tongue, and untangle your toes 
And rattle your claws o'er the bridge of his nose; 
Tickle his ears with your feathers and fuzz, 
And keep up a hum like your grandmother does! 

[JUCKLET moans and clutches at air convulsively.] 

AmPHINE. [Shuddering.] 

Most grewsome sight! See how the poor worm writhes! 
How must he suffer! 

98 



^ 



^-*; 




Ay, but good is meant- 



A far voice sings it so 



r^c 



Gritchfang. [To Creech.] 

Let me dive deep in his nostriline caves, 
And keep an eye out as to how he behaves: 
Fasten him down while I put him to rack — 
And don't let him flop from the flat of his back! 



I>. 



[Shrinks to minute size, while goblin attendants pluck 
from shrubbery a great lily-shaped flower which they 
invert funnel-wise, with small end at sleeper's nos- 
trils, hoisting GRITCHFANG in at top and jostling 
shape downward gradually from sight, and — remov- 
ing flower, — voice of GRITCHFANG continues glee- 
fully from within sleeper's head.'] 

99 





:a-? 



THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 

Ho! I have bored through the floor of his brains, 
And set them all writhing with torturous pains; 
And I shriek out the prayer, as I whistle and whiz, 
I may be the nightmare that my grandmother is! 
\_Reappears, through reversal of flmver-method, assuming 
former shape, crosses to CREECH, and, joining, the 
twain dance on sleeper's stomach in broken time to 
duo.^ 

Duo. 

Whing! 

Whang! 

So our ancestors sang! 
And they guzzled hot blood and blew up with a bang/— 
But they ever tenaciously clung to the rule 
To only blow up in the hull of a fool — 
To fizz and explode like a cast-iron toad 
In the cavernous depths where his victuals were stowed — 
When chances were ripest and thickest and best 
To burst every button-hole out of his vest! 

100 



^*^ 



THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 

\_They pause, float high above, and fusing together into 
a great square iron weight, drop heavily on chest of 
sleeper, who moans piteously.~\ 

AmPHINE. [Hiding his face.! 
Ah ! take me hence ! 



■m 




[DwAINIE leads him off, looking backward as she goes 
and waving her hands imploringly to CREECH and 
GRITCHFANG, reassuming former shapes, in ecstasies 
of insane delight. '\ 

Creech. [To Gritchfang.] 

Zipp! 

Zipp! 

Zipp! 

Zipp! 
Sting his tongue raw and unravel his lip! 
Grope, on the right, down his windpipe, and squeeze 
His liver as dry as a petrified wheeze! 

101 



l>. 




[GriTCHFANG — as before — shrinks and disappears at 
sleeper's mouth.~\ 

Throttle his heart till he's black in the face, 
And bury it down in some desolate place 
Where only remorse in pent agony lives 
To dread the advice that your grandmother gives! 






:*i^ 



\^The sleeper struggles contortedly, while voice of 
GRITCHFANG calls from within.'] 

GRITCHFANG. 

Ho-ho! I have clambered the rungs of his ribs 
And beriddled his lungs into tatters and dribs; 
And I turn up the tube of his heart like a hose 
And squirt all the blood to the end of his nose! 
I stamp on his stomach and caper and prance, 
With my tail tossing round like a boomerang-lance! 
And thus may success ever crown my intent 
To wander the ways that my grandmother went! 

102 



[Reappears, falls hysterically in CrEECH'S outstretched 
arms. — Then dance and duo .'I 



Duo. 

WhingI 

Whung! 

So our ancestors sung! 
And they snorted and pawed, and they hissed and they 

stung,— 
Taking special terrific delight in their work 
On the fools that they found in the lands of the Spirk. — 
And each little grain of their powders of pain 
They scraped up and pestled again and again — - 
Mixed in quadruple doses for gluttons and sots, 
Till they strangled their dreams with gung-jibbrious 

knots ! 



[The comet again trails past, upon which the Nightmares 
leap and disappear. JUCKLET staggers to his feet 
and glares frenziedly around — then starts for oppo- 

103 



THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 

site exit of comet — is there suddenly confronted ivtth 
fiend-faces in the air, bewhiskered with ragged pur- 
plish flames that flare audibly and huskily in abrupt 
alternating chill gasps and hot welterings of wind. 
He starts back from thetn, reels and falls prostrate, 
grovelling terrifiedly in the dust, and chattering, with 
eerie music accompanying his broken utterance.^ 



.<! 



:*-? 



JUCKLET. 

^o! ^o! ^o! 

Thou that dost all things know — 

Waiving all claims of mine to dare to pray, 
Save that I needs must: — Lo, 
What may I pray for? Yea, 
I have not any way. 
An Thou gainsayest me a tolerance so. — 
I dare not pray 

Forgiveness — too great 
My vast o'ertoppling weight 
104 





'<! 



:*-^ 



Of sinning; nor can I 

Pray my 
Poor soul unscourged to go. — 
Frame Thou my prayer, IEo\ 

What may I pray for? Dare 
I shape a prayer, 
In sooth, 
For any cancelled joy 

Of my mad youth. 
Or any bliss my sin's stress did destroy? 
What may I pray for — ^What! — 
That the wild clusters of forget-me-not 
And mignonette 
And violet 
Be out of childhood brought, 

And in mine hard heart set 
A-blooming now as then? — 
With all their petals yet 
Bediamonded with dews — 
Their sweet, sweet scent let loose 
Full sumptuously again! 

105 



r»c 



««*> 




What may I pray, lEol 

For the poor hutched cot 

Where death sate squat 
Midst my first memories? — Lo! 
My mother's face — (they, whispering, told me so)- 

That face! — so pinchedly 

It blanched up, as they lifted me — 
Its frozen eyelids would 
Not part, nor could 

Be ever wetted open with warm tears. 

. . . Who hears 
The prayers for all dead-mother-sakes, iEo! 

Leastwise one mercy: — May 
I not have leave to pray 
All self to pass away — 

Forgetful of all needs mine own — 

Neglectful of all creeds ; — alone. 
Stand fronting Thy high throne and say: 

To Thee, 
O Infinite, I pray 

Shield Thou mine enemy! 

106 





.9^ 



{Music throughout supplication gradually softens and 
sweetens into utter gentleness, with scene slow-fading 
into densest night.~\ 

End Act II. 



I>. 





ACT III. 



.<! 



Scene I. Court of Krung — Royal Ministers, Counsel- 
lors, etc., in session. CRESTILLOMEEM, in full blazonry 
of regal attire, presiding. She signals a Herald at 
her left, who steps forward. — Blare of trumpets, 
greeted with ominous murmurings within, blent with 
tumult from without. 



Herald. 



:^-? 



Hist, ho! Ay, ay! Ay, ay!— Her Majesty, 
The All-Glorious and Ever-Gracious Queen, 
Crestillomeem, to her most loyal, leal 
And right devoted subjects, greeting sends — 
Proclaiming, in the absence of the King, 
Her royal presence — 

108 



^-d> 




THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 



.V^ 



{Voice of Herald fails abruptly — utterly. — A breathless 
hush falls sudden on the court. — A sense oppressive — 
ominous — affects the throng. Weird music heard of 
unseen instruments. '[ 



r^l 



Herald. {Huskily striving to be heard.'\ 



Hist, ho! Ay, ay! Ay, ay! — Her majesty, 
The All-Glorious and Ever-Gracious Queen, 
Crestillomeem — 



i>. 



^*-^ 



[The Queen gasps, and clutches at Herald, mutely signing 
him to silence, her staring eyes fixed on a shadowy 
figure, mistily developing before her into wraith-like 
form and likeness of the Tune-Fool, SpRAIVOLL. The 
shape — evidently invisible and voiceless to alksenses 
but the Queen's — wavers vaporishly to and fro before 
her, moaning and crooning in infinitely sweet-sad 
minor cadences a mystic song.l 

109 



^-*/ 




THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 



.9^ 



Wraith-Song of Spraivoll. 

I will not hear the dying word 
Of any friend, nor stroke the wing 

Of any little wounded bird. 

. . . Love is the deadest thing/ 



r^: 



C^i 



I wist not if I see the smile 

Of prince or wight, in court or lane. — 
/ only know that afterwhile 

He will not smile again. 



The summer blossom, at my feet 

Swims backward, drowning in the grass. 

I will not stay to name it sweet — 
Sink out! and let me pass! 




I have no mind to feel the touch 

Of gentle hands on brow and hair. — 

The lack of this once pained vie much, 
And so I have a care. 
110 




r'9^ 



Dead weeds, and husky-rustling leaves 

That beat the dead boughs where ye cling, 

And old dead nests beneath the eaves — 
Love is the deadest thing! 



r*i 



[< 



Ah! once I fared not all alone; 

And once — no matter, rain or snow! — 
The stars of summer ever shone — 

Because I loved him so! 



\P. 



With always tremblings in his hands. 
And always blushes unaware. 

And always ripples do^vn the strands 
Of his long yellow hair. 



^^^ 



I needs must weep a little space. 
Remembering his laughing eyes 

And curving lip, and lifted face 
Of rapture and surprise. 
Ill 



^-*/ 



.9^ 



O joy is dead in every part, 

And life and hope; and so I sing: 
In all the graveyard of my heart 

Love is the deadest thing! 



.<! 



\_fVith dying away of song, apparition of SprAIVOLL j/ow/y 
vanishes, CreSTILLOMEEM turns dazedly to throng, 
and with labored effort strives to reassume imperious 
mien. — Signs for merl and tremulously drains goblet 
— sinks back in throne with feigned complacency, 
mutely waving Herald to proceed.} 



Herald. [Mechanically.] 

Hist, ho! Ay, ay! Ay, ay! — Her Majesty, 
^^^ The All-Glorious and Ever-Gracious Queen, 

Crestillomeem, to her most loyal, leal 
And right devoted subjects, greeting sends — 
Proclaiming, in the absence of the King, 
Her royal presence, as by him empowered 

112 




To sit and occupy, maintain and hold, 

And therefrom rule the Throne, in sovereign state, 

And work the royal will — [Cotifusion.] Hist, ho! 

Ay, ay! 
Ay, ay! — And be it known, the King, in view 
Of his approaching dissolution — 



r*N 



[Sensation among Counsellors, etc., ivithin, and wild 
tumult without and cries ''Long live the King!" and 
"Treason/" "Intrigue/" "Sorcery/" CresTIIXO- 
MEEM^ in suppressed ire, waving silence, and Herald 
striving to be heard. 1 



Herald. 

Hist, ho! Ay, ay! Ay, ay! — The King, in view 
Of his approaching dissolution, hath 
Decreed this instrument — this royal scroll 

[Unrolling and displaying scroll.] 

With royal seal thereunto set by Krung's 
Most sacred act and sign — 

113 



^-*/ 




THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 

[^General sensatioti within, and growing tumult without, 
with wrangling cries of "Plot!" "Treason!" "Con- 
spiracy!" and "Down with the Queen !" "Down with 
the usurper!" "Down with the Sorceress!"^ 

CRESTILLOMEEM. [PFildly.] 

Who dares to cry 
Conspiracy!" Bring me the traitor-knave! 

[Growing confusion without — sound of noting. — Voice, 
"Let me he taken! Let me be taken!" Enter Guards, 
dragging JUCKLET forward, wild-eyed and hysterical 
— the Queen's gaze fastened on him wonderingly.~\ 



CRESTILLOMEEM. [To Guards.] 
Why bring ye Jucklet hither in this wise? 



Guard. 



.9^ 



O Queen, 'tis he who cries "Conspiracy!" 
And who incites the mob without with cries 
Of "Plot!" and "Treason!" 



r»c 



CrESTILLOMEEM. \_Starting.^ 

Ha! Can this be true? 
I'll not believe it! — ^Jucklet is my fool, 
But not so vast a fool that he would tempt 
His gracious Sovereign's ire. [To Guards.] Let him be 
freed! 

[Then to JUCKLET^ with mock service.'] 

Stand hither, O my Fool! 



P. 



JUCKLET. [To Queen.] 

What! I, thy fool? 
Ho! ho! Thy fool? — ho! ho! — Why, thou art mine! 
[Confusion — cries of '^Strike down the traitor!" JUCK 
LET wrenching himself from grasp of officers.] 

115 





.^^ 



Back, all of ye ! I have not waded hell 
That I should fear your puny enmity! 
Here will I give ye proof of all I say! 

Impresses toward throne, wedging his opposers left and 
right — CrestiLLOMEEM sits as though stricken 
speechless — pallid, waving him back — JUCKLET, 
fairly fronting her, with folded arms — then to throng 
continues.l 

Lo! do I here defy her to lift up 

Her voice and say that Jucklet speaks a lie. 

\_At sign of Queen, officers, unperceived by JUCKLET^ close 
warily behind him.'\ 



And, further — -I pronounce the document 
That craven Herald there holds in his hand 
A forgery — a trick — and dare the Queen, 
Here in my listening presence, to command 
Its further utterance! 

116 



CRESTILLOMEEM. [Wildly rising.'] 

Hold, hireling! — Fool! 
The Queen thou dost in thy mad boasts insult 
Shall utter first thy doom! 



[JUCKLET, seized from behind by Guards, is hurled face 
upward on the dais at her feet, while a minion, with 
drawn sword pressed close against his breast, stands 
over him.'[ 

— Ere we proceed 
With graver matters, let this demon-knave 
Be sent back home to hell. 






i^^ 



[With awful stress of ire, form quivering, eyes glittering 
and features twitched and ashen."] 

Give me the sword, — 
The insult hath been mine — so even shall 
The vengeance be ! 

117 



[As CreSTILLOMEEM seizes sword and bends forward to 
strike, JUCKLET, with superhuman effort, frees his 
hand, and, with a sudden motion and an incoherent 
muttering, flings object in his assailant's face, — ■ 
CRESTILLOMEEM staggers backward, dropping sword, 
and, with arms tossed aloft, shrieks, totters and falls 
prone upon the pave. In confusion following JUCK- 
LET mysteriously vanishes; and as the bewildered 
Courtiers lift the fallen Queen, a clear, piercing voice 
of thrilling sweetness is heard singing.^ 

Voice. 



V*-? 



The pride of noon must wither soon- 
The duslc of death must fall ; 

Yet out of darkest night the moon 
Shall blossom over all! 





[^For an instant a dense cloud envelops empty throne — 
then gradually lifts, discovering therein KrUNG 
seated, in royal panoply and state, with JUCKLET in 
act of presenting sceptre to him. — Blare of trumpets, 
and chorus of Courtiers, Ministers, Heralds, etc.] 

Chorus. 
Ail hail! Long live the King! 

KrUNG. [To throng, with grave salutation.] 



:^^ 



Through tEo's own great providence, and through 
The intervention of an angel whom 
I long had deemed forever lost to me, 
Once more your favored Sovereign, do I greet 
And tender ye my blessing, O most good 
And faith-abiding subjects of my realm! 
In common, too, with your long-suffering King, 
Have ye long suffered, blamelessly as he: 
Now, therefore, know ye all what, until late, 

119 



^-*y 




He knew not of himself, and with him share 
The rapturous assurance that is his, — 
That, for all time to come, are we restored 
To the old glory and most regal pride 
And opulence and splendor of our realm. 

[Turning ivith pained features to the strangely stricken 
Queen.] 



A\ 



There have been, as ye needs must know, strange spells 

And wicked sorceries at work within 

The very dais-boundaries of the Throne. 

Lo! then, behold your harrier and mine. 

And with me grieve for the self-ruined Queen 

Who grovels at my feet, blind, speechless, and 

So stricken with a curse herself designed 

Should light upon Hope's fairest minister. • 



[Motions attendants, who lead away CRESTILLOMEEM— 
the King gazing after her, overmastered with stress 
of his emotions. — He leans heavily on throne, as 

120 



though oblivious to all surroundings, and, shaping 
into speech his varying thought, as in a trance, speaks 
as though icitless of both utterance and auditor.^ 



r»; 



:^-^ 



I loved her. — Why? I never knew. — Perhaps 
Because her face was fair; perhaps because 
Her eyes were blue and wore a weary air; — 
Perhaps . . . perhaps because her limpid face 
Was eddied with a restless tide, wherein 
The dimples found no place to anchor and 
Abide: perhaps because her tresses beat 
A froth of gold about her throat, and poured 
In splendor to the feet that ever seemed 
Afloat. Perhaps because of that wild way 
Her sudden laughter overleapt propriety; 
Or — who will sa}''? — perhaps the way she wept. 
Ho! have ye seen the swollen heart of summer 
Tempest, o'er the plain, with throbs of thunder 
Burst apart and drench the earth with rain? She 
Wept like that. — And to recall, with one wild glance 

121 



^-*/ 






THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 



Of memory, our last love-parting — tears 

And all. ... It thrills and maddens me! And yet 

My dreams will hold her, flushed from lifted brow 

To finger-tips, with passion's ripest kisses 

Crushed and mangled on her lips. . . . O woman! while 

Your face was fair, and heart was pure, and lips 

Were true, and hope as golden as your hair, 

I should have strangled you! 



'<|^ [As KrunG, ceasing to speak, ptfeously lifts his face, 

SpRAIVOLL all suddenly appears, in space left vacant by 
the Queen, and, kneeling, kisses the King's hand. — He 
bends in tenderness, kissing her brow — then lifts and 
seats her at his side. Speaks then to throng.~\ 



\P. 



Good Subjects — Lords: 
Behold in this sweet woman here my child 
Whom, years agone, the cold, despicable 
Crestillomeem — by baleful, wicked arts 
And grewsome spells and fearsome witcheries — 

122 





\-'9^ 



Did spirit ofif to some strange otherland 

Where, happily, a Wunkland Princess found 

Her, and undid the spell by sorcery 

More potent — ay. Divine, since it works naught 

But good—\}i\t gift of Ro, to right wrong. 

This magic dower the Wunkland Princess hath 

Enlisted in our restoration here. 

In secret service, till this joyful hour 

Of our complete deliverance. Even thus. — 

Lo, let the peerless Princess now appear! 



\Ile lifts sceptre, and a gust of melody, divinely beautiful, 
sweeps through the court. — The star above the throne 
loosens and drops slowly downward, bursting Itke a 
bubble on the sceptre-tip, and, issuing therefrom, 
AmpHINE and DWAINIE, hand in hand, kneel at the 
feet of KruNG, who bends above them with his bless- 
ing, while JUCKLET capers wildly round the group.] 

123 




r^N 



:p: 




^^^ 



THE FLYING ISLANDS OF THE NIGHT 

JUCKLET. 

Ho! ho! but I could shriek for very joy! 
And though my recent rival, fair Amphine, 
Doth even now bend o'er a blossom, I, 
Besprit me! have no lingering desire 
To meddle with it, though with but one eye 
I slept the while she backward walked around 
Me in the garden. 

[Amphine dubiously smiles — JUCKLET blinks and leers 
— and DWAINIE bites her finger.'] 

Krung. 

Peace! good Jucklet! Peace! 
For this is not a time for any jest. — 
Though the old order of our realm hath been 
Restored, and though restored my very life — ■ 
Though I have found a daughter,— I have lost 
A son — for Dwainie, with her sorcery, 
Will, on the morrow, carry him away. 
'Tis ^o's largess, as our love is His, 
And our abiding trust and gratefulness. 



■m 



r^N 




OCT 15 1913 



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